Gunmen kill 3 police, suicide bomber wounds 6 in Pakistan

BC-AS--Pakistan,1st Ld-Writethru

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Gunmen killed three police in an overnight attack in northern Pakistan, and a suicide bomber wounded three Chinese engineers and three paramilitary guards in a separate incident, officials said Saturday.

Faizullah Faraq, spokesman for the local government of northern Gilgit Baltistan territory, said one of the gunmen who attacked a police post was killed in the ensuing shootout late Friday. Another two police were wounded.

The suicide bomber struck near a bus carrying Chinese engineers from Baluchistan to Karachi on Saturday. Hashim Ghilzai, a senior official in the region, confirmed the six wounded. He said the attacker was in a parked car who blew himself up when the bus got closer to him in the Dalbandin area.

The Baluch Liberation Army, a separatist group, claimed responsibility for the suicide attack — the first time any Baluch separatist group has taken responsibility for a suicide attack.

BLA spokesman Junaid Baluch in a statement on the group's webpage that more such attacks would be carried out on Chinese involved in "exploiting the resources of Baluchistan."

The southwestern province is the scene of a low-level insurgency by Baluch separatists who wants greater share from provincial resources or outright autonomy from Islamabad.

Militants in Pakistan carry out near-daily attacks, mainly targeting security forces. Most of the attacks have been linked to the Pakistani Taliban and other Islamic extremists.